A French-based Catholic charitable organization has issued a strong condemnation of Israel after Israeli military forces completely demolished a convent run by the Greek Catholic Salvatorian Sisters order in the southern Lebanese village of Yaroun, framing the incident as a deliberate attack on a sacred site of worship.
In an official statement released Friday, L’Oeuvre d’Orient, a longstanding Catholic charity focused on supporting Christian communities across the Middle East, denounced not just the targeted destruction of the convent but also the widespread systematic leveling of residential properties across southern Lebanon. The organization argued this campaign of demolition is intentionally designed to block displaced civilian populations from returning to their home communities once active hostilities subside.
The charity further emphasized that the Yaroun convent attack is not an isolated incident, but part of a growing broader pattern of destruction targeting Christian cultural and religious heritage across the region. It pointed out that multiple other Christian sacred sites were destroyed during 2024 cross-border and wartime operations, including two Melkite churches in Yaroun and the nearby village of Derdghaya — both of which are officially protected as part of Lebanon’s national cultural heritage register.
Tensions over Israeli actions targeting Christian sites have been simmering since April, when widely circulated images showed an Israeli soldier using a jackhammer to deliberately desecrate a crucifix statue of Jesus in southern Lebanon. That incident sparked widespread outrage among Christian communities and religious leaders across the globe.
In recent weeks, reports of violent targeting of Christian individuals and institutions have increased sharply across the broader Middle East. Earlier this week, in occupied East Jerusalem, a 48-year-old nun who works as a researcher was physically assaulted near the Cenacle on Mount Zion, sustaining visible facial injuries that required urgent medical intervention.
Restrictions on core Christian religious practices have also expanded in recent months. Last month, Israeli police initially blocked Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, and a group of fellow clergy from holding the traditional Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of Christianity’s holiest sites. Access was only partially restored after widespread international pressure was brought to bear on Israeli authorities.
A new analysis published by the Rossing Centre for Education and Dialogue, a regional research organization focused on interfaith relations, confirms a dramatic uptick in anti-Christian aggression. The center’s 2025 report documents a “continued and expanding pattern of intimidation and aggression” targeting Christian communities, recording 155 separate separate incidents of hostility in just one year. This total includes 61 physical assaults on individuals, 52 attacks on church-owned property, 28 cases of religious harassment, and 14 incidents of vandalism targeting religious signage. Researchers stressed that the published numbers likely represent only the “tip of the iceberg,” as many incidents go unreported out of fear of retaliation.
Responding to the latest convent incident on Saturday, an Israeli military spokesperson acknowledged that Israeli forces had damaged a “religious building” in Yaroun during what the military described as operational activities targeting what it calls militant infrastructure in the area.
The demolition of the convent comes even after a ceasefire was announced on April 17, designed to end more than six weeks of large-scale Israeli military operations across Lebanon. Despite the truce, Israeli military strikes and ground operations have continued in southern Lebanon.
As of Saturday, Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that Israeli military actions between March 2 and May 2 have left at least 2,659 people dead and more than 8,183 others wounded across the country, the vast majority of them civilian residents displaced from their southern communities.